Volunteers

Volunteers are the life blood of Sporting organisations in New Zealand.

In this section we aim to give information to clubs to help with the recruiting and retention of volunteers as well as some ideas on where to go if you want to get involved as a volunteer.


Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers



It is a constant challenge for all sporting organisations to recruit more volunteers, and to provide them with the motivation to stay.
Sport Waitakere has many resources that may help your club.
You can download the ‘Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers’ document in our resources section, select 'Clubs, Sport and Volunteers' in the drop down menu. This will give you a basic coverage of what your organisation could be doing to improve the management of your volunteers. You will also find a series of Role Descriptions as Word Documents, which can be manipulated to create your own role descriptions specific to your club.

The ClubKit section of the Sport New Zealand website is another good resource.




Becoming a Volunteer

Why volunteer? Watch this inspirational movie:




Feel like doing something different? Feel like being involved?
Find out more about the enormous benefits of volunteering, both to the individual and to the community. Imagine a week or even a day in our community, if all our volunteers were not able to help out! Working as a volunteer is not about financial remuneration but it is about personal reward, skill utilisation and skill acquisition. It can also lead to community service awards, employment, higher self-esteem and social standing. People who volunteer find it rewarding on a personal level. They develop skills and confidence, the ability to work with a range of people, as well as the satisfaction of contributing to their community in a positive manner.

Volunteering Auckland matches would-be volunteers with the type of voluntary activity they would like to do. Cheryl Martin the Regional Manager says, "Volunteering Auckland has lots of opportunities for people wanting to get involved in their community. Sometimes we can be a bit complacent and say that ‘some one else will do it’ … well, one day we are going to run out of those someone else’s … so how about volunteering yourself and become one of Auckland’s most valuable assets … its human resources".

Call Volunteering Auckland now for more information on 0800 VOL CNTR [0800 865 2687] or visit their website www.volunteeringauckland.org.nz




Rewarding and Acknowledging



Rewarding and acknowledging your Volunteers is a great way to make them feel valued, and encourages them to stay at your club.
It does not have to be expensive, just a simple mention in a newsletter, or a quick ‘thanks for your efforts’ goes a long way.
For lots more ideas on ways to thank your volunteers you can visit the websites below, or you can download the ‘Recruiting and Retaining Volunteers’ document in our resources section, select 'Clubs, Sport and Volunteers' in the drop down menu.

•Sport New Zeland

•Nestle



Volunteering Newsletters


Volunteering Auckland is an organisation whose mission is to promote and support volunteering to individuals, organisations and the community within the greater Auckland region.
It has resources for clubs who want to improve the experience for their volunteers, and well as opportunities for people who want to get involved in volunteering.
They produce regular newsletters, which you can download from the Volunteering New Zealand website.

For further information contact Warren Ogilvie on 966 3100 or warren.ogilvie@sportwaitakere.co.nz